Silver Lining
by SSAEmilyHotchner
Summary: Twoshot. Set in the season three finale, "Lo-Fi." Morgan goes to the hotel bar after Hotch sides with Kate and brushes him off. Instead of Dave, who comes to join him? Emily.
1. Chapter One

Author's Note: I was watching "Lo-Fi" the other day when this idea hit me. I've been thinking of writing a Morgan/Emily story...nothing M rated, or anything, but I've been experimenting. So, in the bar scene, I thought, "What if it wasn't Dave who came to talk to him? What if it was Emily?" And that's how this little story bloomed. Enjoy, my friends. (:

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it.

* * *

Derek Morgan sat in the near empty hotel bar, a tall, untouched glass of beer sitting on the counter-top in front of him. There were only two other people in the room with him. One was the bartender, and the other was a tall, blond haired man talking to a woman on his cellphone. Whether it was his mom, sister, girlfriend, or wife, Morgan didn't know, but at least her had _someone_ to talk to.

Morgan had no one. No one who would understand him, that is. Leaning forward so his arms stretched out onto the counter, he laid his head on his hands. Why was this affecting him so much?

Why did rejection have to hurt _so_ badly?

He was so busy thinking intently that he didn't notice the woman who had come to sit by him.

"Could I have a glass of chardonnay, please?" she asked the bartender. Morgan didn't register her voice until she called his name. "Derek."

He looked up slowly. It was Emily.

"Emily," he said. "What are you doing here?"

She ignored his question. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Don't give me that," she said softly. "I can tell that something is bothering you. So, you might as well tell me."

"You won't understand," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"If it has anything to do with Hotch and Joyner, I will," she said astutely.

Morgan looked at her. How did she know? Had he been that obvious? What did she think of him now? Did she think that he was an idiot for making too big a deal out of things? He sighed. "Yeah. It does."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked. At his silence, she added, "If you don't want to, you don't have to; we can talk about something else, or I can just leave." She paused before saying sincerely, "But, if you do want to talk…I'm all ears. And I'll stay here for as long as you need."

"What have I done to deserve a friend like you, Emily?" he wondered aloud.

She smiled. "I think that all the time. Now start talking."

His demeanor sobered immediately. "I don't get Hotch sometimes," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a sip of her wine.

"He…I don't know how to put it."

"Try."

"He says he's there for everyone on the team. To back us up, to support us. And he has been, so far. But on this case…" His voice drifted away.

"He isn't," she supplied.

"Yeah. He tells us to remain levelheaded so we can solve the case faster. But _he_ isn't levelheaded. He tells me to remain focused…but every time I look at him, all his focus is on _her._" He scoffed. "Liaised in Scotland Yard, my ass. Have you noticed that she looks -"

"Exactly like Haley?" Emily interrupted.

"Spitting image," he agreed. "Minus the accent, they're basically twins." He sighed in exasperation. "It's just…I know I was right! If we had been posted in the main subway stations, one less victim would be dead. Hotch doesn't understand; I'm not vying for Kate's job, I'm just trying to catch the unsub! And then he tells me to take a walk…"

She shook her head. "It's all just so messed up…" She stopped mid-sentence. "What do you mean, vying for her job?"

"Hotch said that if Kate didn't find the unsub and solve the case, they would replace her. And apparently, I'm on the list of possible candidates."

Emily was stunned. "Wow. Really?" He nodded. "Would you? You know, leave, and be in charge for once?" she asked half-heartedly.

"I don't know. It would be nice, but it would be extremely stressful. I mean, look at Hotch. The man doesn't smile. We literally have to drag him to restaurants or bars with us. He has no social life," Morgan said truthfully.

"Except with that tramp…" Emily murmured under her breath.

Morgan looked at her intently. "You don't like her either," he stated plainly.

"Are you kidding me? 'Oh, Aaron, could I see you alone in my office for a minute?'" she imitated in a mock British accent. "I hate her."

"Same here."

"And the worst part? He follows her around like a lovesick puppy!" she spat angrily.

Morgan watched as she finished the rest of her wine and turned away from him. He had known it all along; she liked Hotch. A lot. "Why does that make me jealous?" Morgan thought. He took in her perfect figure. V-neck red blouse, formfitting black slacks, and knee-high leather boots…there was no denying that she looked beautiful. And he _had _noticed her before, but he kept his feelings at bay. After all, she was his colleague. And office relationships were banned. Not just frowned upon; banned. Realizing that he had been quiet for way too long, he spoke. "I agree. It's like he doubts my instincts because of her. He doesn't trust my input on this case. I mean, does he think that I'm a lousy profiler, or something?"

That caught Emily's attention. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she said, "Hey. Look at me. You're an amazing profiler, and an equally as good agent. You're great at what you do, and Hotch notices that. We all do. And we appreciate it. Don't let Joyner get to your head."

He looked up at her in appreciation. "Thanks, Emily. It really means a lot."

"No problem," she said, shooting him a sweet smile.

"And about Joyner…that's going to be pretty hard for me."

She sighed and her smile fell. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

Morgan finally met the eyes of the female agent. He knew that she had strong feelings for their boss, and he knew that Joyner's presence was making her jealous.

But it was also causing a frown to don her usually smiling face, and Morgan desperately wanted to make her smile again.

So, he did the only thing that he could think of.

The one thing that he had been wanting to do for ages.

He leaned forward and kissed her.


	2. Chapter Two

Author's Note: I was watching "Lo-Fi" the other day when this idea hit me. I've been thinking of writing a Morgan/Emily story...nothing M rated, or anything, but I've been experimenting. So, in the bar scene, I thought, "What if it wasn't Dave who came to talk to him? What if it was Emily?" And that's how this little story bloomed. Enjoy, my friends. (:

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it.

* * *

Emily froze slightly, and Morgan immediately stopped when he realized that she wasn't kissing him back.

"Emily, I…I'm so sorry, I didn't…I mean, I -"

She interrupted his frantic stammering by placing a long, slender finger on his lips. "It's okay," she assured quietly. "I was just surprised."

And with that, she leaned forward and kissed him slowly. He couldn't help but close his eyes at the feel of her soft warm lips against his.

His large hand went to the side of her face, drawing her even closer. His tongue slipped past the barrier of her lips and teeth and played with hers. She tasted so good…

Eventually, they pulled away from each other. His hand remained on her cheek as he asked, almost shyly, "Do you, um…want to continue this somewhere else? Because that bartender is getting kind of antsy…"

She smiled. "That sounds great. Your room or mine?

"Mine?"

"Alright." She paused. "You know what they say; every cloud has a silver lining." He grinned at the saying.

So, after Morgan quickly finished his beer, they left the bar and made their way to Morgan's hotel room, his arm placed securely around her waist.

~.~.~

Kate smiled. "Thank you for dinner," she told her date.

Hotch nodded. "Not a problem. So…what do you want to talk about?"

She picked at her salad absentmindedly. "Tell me about your team," she said, shrugging.

"Okay. Dave is a published writer, one of my closest friends, and I've known him for around ten years. JJ is the best media liaison you'll ever see, and although she's not a profiler, she could be a pretty great one. Reid is, well…a genius. He has an IQ of 187, can read twenty thousand words per minute, and has an eidetic memory. I don't know what we would do without him. Garcia our technical analyst, and I've honestly never met anyone better at what she does than her. Hundreds of our cases would be impossible to solve without her help." He skipped Morgan because he _really_ didn't want to go down that road for the fifth time. "And Prentiss is…" He stopped. What to say about Emily? He wasn't about to mention that she haunted his dreams at night. Or the fact that he was pretty much in love with her.

Kate noticed his silence. "Tough subject?" she asked pointedly.

He looked at her. "No. There's just not that much to say," he lied. "She's the daughter of an Ambassador and is damn good at her job." He sighed. "Are you done eating?"

"Yeah." They both stood and Hotch left a tip for the hotel restaurant's waiter.

"Do you want to head up to my room?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he clarified, "To go over the case?"

She nodded. "Sounds good to me."

~.~.~

Morgan pushed Emily up against the wall outside his room and kissed her fiercely. He couldn't find his key, he was getting impatient, and hey, there was no one else in the hallway, so why not? She certainly wasn't objecting. Her long arms looped around his neck, and he pulled her as close to his body as possible, his rock hard member rubbing against her hot core in the process. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn't notice voices floating down the corridor.

Kate and Hotch turned the corner. "It's been good to see you again, Aaron," Kate said.

Hotch smiled slightly. "Yeah. It has." However, any further comments were interrupted by a long, breathy moan from in front of them. His heart stopped as he took in the sight before him. Emily and Morgan were in a very…intimate position; their lips were locked, one of her legs was hooked around his hip, his fingers were twined in her hair…

Sensing the presence of others, Morgan and Emily broke apart abruptly, staring at the other two in shock.

Hotch wasn't looking at Morgan. His gaze was on Emily. Something in his eyes caused Emily to look back. What was it?

Hurt.

Emily closed her eyes and turned back to Morgan. "Where's your key?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

He looked down at her and blinked a couple of times to clear his mind and straighten his thoughts. "Um…back of my jeans, I think…"

She reached in his back pocket and pulled out the room key. Without another glance at Hotch and Kate, she opened the door, took Morgan's hand, and pulled him inside, shutting it firmly behind them.

Hotch remained standing in the same spot, his feet glued to the floor, and his gaze fixated on the door that his two profilers had just disappeared into.

Kate broke the silence. "Well…that was interesting. You didn't tell me that they were in a relationship."

He didn't look at her. "That's because I didn't know," he said quietly.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" she asked nonchalantly.

"What do you mean?" he countered.

"That type of fraternization is against the rules. You have to confront them, you know that," she said.

"I'll talk to them tomorrow," he murmured, wincing as he heard Emily's musical laughter coming from the neighboring room.

"Why wait?" she asked persistently. "Tomorrow we have to focus on the case."

"Why do you care about this so much?" Hotch snapped. "It's my team, not yours, and I can take care of it!" Stunned at his outburst, Kate said nothing. Hotch continued. "Do you think that if I report Morgan, he'll get off the list of people to replace you? Because that's not going to happen. He would be taken off my team and where would they most likely put him? Oh, that's right, your team. So, sorry to burst your bubble, but although he may have his faults, I like Derek Morgan. He's one of my best agents, he's a crucial part of my team, and I don't know what we would do without him." Finishing, he used his Agent Hotchner glare on Kate.

Clearing her throat, she blushed in embarrassment. "I think I'll go to my apartment," she said lowly.

He nodded. "Good," he said brusquely.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Hotch didn't answer. Instead, he opened his door and entered his room, plopping down on the bed in exhaustion.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Emily broke out of their embrace. Emily smiled brightly. "Did you hear that?"

Morgan nodded, biting back his smile. "Yeah."

"I told you that he appreciates you. I knew it."

He looked at her, memorizing ever inch of her face. Closing his eyes, he said, "You don't have to do this for me, Emily."

She frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I know that you have feelings for Hotch," he finally said. "And I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you -"

She silenced him with a chaste kiss. "That's where you're wrong," she murmured against his lips. "I did have feelings for him, but he had his chance. And I'm doing this for me, too. I want it just as much as you do," she admitted.

He grinned widely. Picking her up into his arms, he kissed her passionately and carried her into the bedroom before saying, "There's the silver lining I've been looking for."


End file.
